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Short-term project organizations for corporate entrepreneurship: evidence from the Japanese animation industry (2000–2008)

SHORT-TERM PROJECT ORGANIZATIONS FOR CORPORATE
ENTREPRENEURSHIP: EVIDENCE FROM THE JAPANESE
ANIMATION INDUSTRY (2000 – 2008)
by
Sahangsoon Kim
A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
(BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION)
December 2010
Copyright 2010 Sahangsoon Kim

Corporate entrepreneurship has been and will continue to be the most important means of ensuring firm survival and prosperity. To cope with a dynamically competitive environment and overcome various limitations, firms form collaborative entrepreneurships. Evidence from the practice shows that short-term collaboration among firms has become valuable for corporate entrepreneurship projects. My dissertation is a study of short-term project organizations for corporate entrepreneurship. Specifically, I examined two important and interconnected issues concerning short-term project organizations — formation and acquisition of new capabilities.; Due to its complex nature, corporate entrepreneurship sits in the crosshairs of numerous theoretical lenses. I examined literature about corporate entrepreneurship, short-term organizations, and mobility. Using behavioral theory of the firm and organizational learning as guiding theoretical perspectives, I viewed corporate entrepreneurship as a series of problem-solving activities. Specifically, the nature of corporate entrepreneurship demanded non-local search activity beyond firm boundaries. With this understanding, I investigated the novelty of entrepreneurship projects and internal and external resource conditions as factors responsible for the formation of short-term project organizations. Then, I examined whether corporate entrepreneurship could contribute to the acquisition of new capabilities. I theorized that the mobility of external experts in and out of corporate entrepreneurship projects, firms’ own experience in entrepreneurship, and previous experience in capability acquisition could predict firms’ chances of acquiring new capabilities. I systematically examined these claims by testing hypotheses with a sample of 645 Japanese TV animation programs produced by 83 unique animation studios and 288 directors between 2000 and 2008.; Results strongly supported theories of the formation of short-term project organizations by providing evidence that the Novelty of Project, External Resource Availability, and Internal Resource Constraints increased the likelihood of a corporate entrepreneurship project being carried out by short-term project organizations. The results also provided supporting evidence that mobility of external experts and previous experience in capability acquisition enhanced firms’ chances to learn new capabilities.; My dissertation contributes to corporate entrepreneurship literature by examining the conditions that lead to the formation of short-term collaborative entrepreneurship activities. It contributes to organizational learning theory by providing evidence that short-term project organizations offer learning experiences to participating firms and people. It speaks to the growing audience of mobility studies by showing that different types of mobility have different values in corporate entrepreneurship. It also provides valuable insights to managers who seek sustainable competitiveness through corporate entrepreneurship by emphasizing the value of short-term project organizations.

SHORT-TERM PROJECT ORGANIZATIONS FOR CORPORATE
ENTREPRENEURSHIP: EVIDENCE FROM THE JAPANESE
ANIMATION INDUSTRY (2000 – 2008)
by
Sahangsoon Kim
A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
(BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION)
December 2010
Copyright 2010 Sahangsoon Kim